FC Barcelona defeat Tottenham on penalties to kick off their preseason.

FC Barcelona kicked off their US preseason tour with a 5-3 shootout victory against Tottenham at the Rose Bowl in California following a 2-2 draw. New signings Arthur, Lenglet and Malcom made their debut along with numerous Barça youth players. Munir and Arthur scored in the first half and Malcom scored the decisive penalty.

With many of the starters still on vacation following their participation in the World Cup, FC Barcelona’s starting eleven consisted of Cillessen, Semedo, Marlon, Lenglet, Miranda, Arthur, Sergi Roberto, André Gomes, Rafinha , Munir, and Denis. Blaugrana looked in good form during the first half and took the lead in the 14th minute after Sergi Roberto’s diagonal pass was headed by Rafinha across the goal for Munir to score an easy header from close range. In the 29th minute, new signing sensation Arthur notched his first ever goal for the Blaugrana. Left back Miranda delivered a superb cross across the box to Rafinha whose sublime control allowed him to bring the ball to a dead stop before passing it to Arthur who delivered a powerful right-footed strike into the top corner. The Blaugrana ended the first half up 2-0 but they were also suffered two injuries as Denis Suarez and André Gomes had to be substituted after picking up injuries but Riqui Puig made the most out of this opportunity and shined after coming in for Gomes.

Ernesto Valverde made fielded a lineup of Cillessen, Palencia, Cuenca, Mingueza, Cucurella; Monchu, Collado, Riqui Puig, Abel Ruiz, Carles Pérez and newly signed Malcom for the second half. Spurs though still had the likes of Son and Christian Eriksen and their experience paid off against the lesser experienced Blaugrana players. Son and Georges-Kevin N’Koudou scored two goals in two minutes with 15 minutes left in the second half to draw their side level. If not for Cillessen making some key saves, the game would have ended in Spurs’ favor.

Penalties were to decide this match after the final whistle blew. Palencia, Abel Ruiz, Monchu and Riqui Puig converted their penalties. When Cillessen denied Georgiou, new signing Malcom sealed the shootout with his goal for the club’s first preseason victory of the summer. The Blaugrana will next play Roma on Tuesday in Texas and then cap their preseason tour of the US back in California on Saturday against Milan before facing Sevilla in the Spanish Supercopa on August 12 in Morocco. La Liga kicks off on August 18 when they host Alaves at the Camp Nou.